


When the north fell

by sternflammenden



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Character Death, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-30
Updated: 2012-06-30
Packaged: 2017-11-08 21:21:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/447697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sternflammenden/pseuds/sternflammenden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the gameofships daily prompts (prompt was a picture of two skeletons seeming to hold each other). </p><p>House Bolton and House Frey have fallen and there is nothing left to do but to wait.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When the north fell

They had thrown her in her husband's cell as a jape. Let them eat each other, Manderly's men had laughed, slamming the door behind her. She wasn't accustomed to being so roughly-handled, after her time as a lady, but she did her best not to react, to stay silent, to stay neutral. She'd learned that reactions only inflame.

Mostly, she thought about the baby, and that's why she wept. She wasn't sad for herself, or for her husband, but for the child who wouldn't be.

Her husband stared blankly most of the time, seemingly stunned that things had gone as badly as they had. She was accustomed to his silence, but this went beyond that. She felt the same stillness when she realized that neither of them would likely last the week.

She'd tried her best, but there was no recourse to be had. She sat next to him most of the time, her hand in his. They usually huddled close together, not for love or comfort, but for warmth.

"Was I a good wife?" she said, toward the end. Her voice sounded strange in the small space, and almost indecent after such a long period of silence.

He didn't react at first, shifting on the narrow bench. He bent to look at her, but his eyes were expressionless. "Why would you ask such a thing? You never once gave me cause for complaint."

She smiled then. She wasn't anywhere near pretty, but it gave her face a radiance that it had never had. "Will you kiss me goodbye, before?" Her eyes lowered. "I know that it will be soon."

He nodded, stroking her icy cheek. "I shall. And I will do you a greater kindness." He removed a small knife from his sleeve. It had been missed when Stannis and Manderly's men searched them. "It will be more merciful than what they will likely do with you."

She shivered as she realized what he meant. "But must it come to that?"

He nodded. "I know what they will do. I have done the same."

Her breath stopped. "Will it hurt?" It was a childish question, considering, but she no longer cared.

He shook his head. "Only for a moment. My hands will be steady, I promise." He pulled her close and kissed her then, and she relaxed in his arms, closing her eyes.

"I love you so," she whispered. "I always have."

And they waited, and waited, and waited.


End file.
